Sergeant Robert Edwin Berry, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen
Australian War MemorialRobert “Ted” Berry was born on 23 December 1878 to Thomas and Mary Berry of Brisbane.
Ted and two of his brothers enlisted for service during the Boer War. He joined the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, a contingent raised for service in early 1901. Ted and one of his brothers served in a small cyclist part of the contingent.
They left Australia for active service in early March 1901, and their arrival sparked interest in Cape Town. The local newspapers noted “they were a very fine lot of men … the Queensland Imperial Bushmen is one of the finest bodies of men ever landed here.”
At this time the major battles were over and an extended period of guerrilla-type skirmishes with the Boers had begun. By mid-1901, they were busy on patrol and regularly met the enemy. The cyclists’ duty was to accompany the advanced guard, and to guard the light automatic cannons, known as ‘pom poms’.
Ted’s brother, Harold, wrote, “most of our work is to guard the pom-poms and guns … this is no country for cyclists, and the sooner we get horses the better, although everyone says we have done good work.”
In July, they accompanied the advance guard following a group of Boers when they came across a good piece of road. Ted Berry described how they “set sail after them, going past the advance guard like mad, and got within 600 yards of 50 Boers.” They engaged the enemy and were able to break them up, capturing a large amount of stock. Berry “took charge of 400 goats and sheep”, jealously guarding his spoils from some mounted officers who wanted to take it back.
The bikes were soon replaced with horses. In early 1902, they again engaged the enemy near the village of Onverwacht. Boer forces outnumbered them.
5th Queensland Bushmen, Trooper Charles Bryce, wrote “we simply marched into a huge trap amongst the hills, and we were surrounded in a few minutes.”
Harold Berry wrote to his mother to tell her what happened:
“We were having dinner when Major Ballantyne gave orders for us to saddle up … We had not gone 300 yards … when we got a volley from the Boers … Poor Ted was just in front of the pom pom and that is where he fell. He fired at a Boer on a white horse, at about 30 yards’ range. He shot the horse, and stood up to fire again at the Boer, but the Boer fired first, and hit Ted, the bullet going through his wrist, hitting his second shirt button and then right through his chest. He clasped his hands over his breast and fell. He said good-bye to one of the men, and died.”
The Australians were forced to withdraw.
Friends of Sergeant Ted Berry and Corporal Macfarlane, another Boer War cyclist erected a monument in St Matthews churchyard, Sherwood, to their fallen comrades.
Ted Edwin was 23 years old.
Meleah Hampton, Historian, Military History Section
- Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2647855
